Improvement in trusses



i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

sAMUEL s. RITTER, on PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN TRUSSES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 49,437, dated August15, 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL S. RITTER, of the city and county ofPhiladelphia,'iu the State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Trusses vfor Inguinal Hernia; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full and exact description ofthe is asection in the line z z, Fig. 4.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

This invention consists, first, in the application to pads made of woodor similar material of elastic pieces or tubes ot' semi-elliptical orsemicircular form, adapted to receive the pressure during the movementsof the body and prevent the edges of the pad from rubbing against andchating or injuring the esh; secondly, in the employment of springs ot'peculiar construction for controlling the ultimate pressure of the pad.

To enable others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains tofully understand and use the same, I will proceed to describe itsconstruction and operation.

In the accompanying drawings, A represents the mainsprin g, which is tobe strapped around the body in customary manner, and from which emanatesthe essential pressure.

The pad B is represented as being attached to the mainspring A throughthe medium of twolbars or supports, C C', fixed rigidly at a greater orless distance asunder by means of a screw, c, in order to vary orregulate the force with which the pad B presses against the body.

The bar C is not attached directly to the pad B, but to a curved bar, D,either elastic or stili', through which pass the screws d d, which enterthe pad and hold itin place.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, E is apiece of rubber or other suitable elasticmaterial, shaped semielliptically, or in conformity with the contourontl the pad B, and round in its transverse section. Thisis attached tothe bar D by screws e e; but it may be attached inany other man-l ner. Ein Fig. 4 represents a ring or elliptical piece made ot' thesamematerial as the piece E in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. Thesemi-elliptical pad Esits above and partially encircles the operating-pad, receiving andbreaking the press` ure ofthe latter in the vicinity ofts edge under thevaried motions and contortions of the body, and preventing the injuriousfriction which would otherwise result therefrom. As regards these rubberor yielding pads, my claim is restricted tothe one of semi-elliptical orsemicircular form which is represented in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. Thefull-ellipse or full-circle pad shown in Fig. 4 is not new, but acareful investigation of the operation of' the half-pad, located abovethe operating-pad, will demonstrate that it subserves the purpose inview much better than the full pad. The tendency otl thelatter is tobear upward from a point below the operating-pad, displace the latterfrom its effective position, and occupy the place where theoperating-pad ought to be. Hence the full pad, instead ot'beingbeneticial, is liable to be deleterious. These pads E are madehollow by preference, but not necessarily.

F in Figs. 2 and 3 represents a curved spring interposed between the padB and bar D, and having slots f f to accommodate the screws d d. Therelative positions of the bar D and spring F may be reversed-that is tosay, the spring may be located outside of the bar. This spring F allowsthe pad B to yield to the pressure of the body when bent or undergoingsuch movements that the pad in its normal position would produce unduepressure, and by inserting the screws d d to a greater or less distanceinto the pad the elastic forcc of the spring F is so controlled as tolimit the ultimate pressure of the pad B.

In Fig. 4 the spring F is represented as having lips f', which slideupon the bar D during the adjustment ot the spring, `and this adjustmentmay be ei'ected by means of one screw, f, entering the pad B, instead ofby two.

Having thus described my invention, the i following is whatI claim asnew and desire to B, in the manner and forkthe purposes herein secure byLetters Patent: described and. represented.

l. The soft; exible pad or piece En1ade in To the above speecation of myimprovesemi-elliptical or semiciroular form, and emment in trusses Ihave signed my hand this ployed to receive the pressure of the surfaceof 12th day of January, 1865.

the body immediately around -the operating- S. S. RITTER. pad,substantially as and for the purpose set Witnesses: forth. y EDWARD H.KNIGHT,

2. The spring F, applied directly tothe pad CHARLES D. SMITH.

